Chinese Philosophy - PART III

If the question of whether or not making plans for the future is counterproductive is concrete, subsequently, the infinite answers to the question must be vague and moldable. The plans that human beings seem to create in their minds are full of deliberation. Within the text of Zhuangzi Speaks, the Master says, “When pursuing an ambition, it is easy to set our sights forward, forgetting the danger lurking behind”(Chung 84). In seeking a goal for the future, people lose track of what is going on around them, and in turn, are troubled with adapting to the circumstances at hand. How can we adapt? In a world of constant change, it seems hard to keep up with the random transformations going on in society. When worried about driving to school in a blizzard, the anxiety is void of any purposeful relevance. One worries about the negative affect that not going to school will have on ones grade, and is, thus, ultimately concerned about not being able to impress ones grades upon a future employer. Zhuangzi noticed that, “The laws of man are temporal, or at least transitional. If Universal peace is to be achieved, we must follow the Laws of Nature, or Dao”(Chung 47). By going through life without understanding the Laws of Nature, ones car will be blown into an ice-cold snow bank. The class will go on in the schoolhouse just as life will go on for those trapped in the ice-cold snow bank. The best thing is to find security within ones own given circumstances and base every waking decision on what is provided by Nature.
If school is in session but there is fear of a pandemic, do not go to school when having fear of the disease. Many philosophers understand that the “disease” of knowledge can be frightening. If something frightens us, it also discourages us. When discouraged about the future, humans tend to make goals and set plans to ensure a beneficial future. How can we know that the future is ensured? In a conversation between an enlightened master named Quangchengzi and the Yellow Emperor, the Master asked, “Don’t you understand that to use our intellect to change things only makes matter worse?”(Chung 53). In response to this Zhuangzi commented, “…don’t think with your mind, embrace the primal One, no knowledge, no self, go with nature, participate in nature, be one with nature, and a long life will come Naturally”(Chung 53). To live life with nature and as nature means to transcend all things previously learned. If one is told that studying economics is more intelligent than studying art or philosophy, one must laugh and continue walking through the world unaffected by erroneous thought.